A hot new Taiwanese adult animated sci-fi anthology series titled Bliss: Beyond the Edge of Time is among several new projects in production spotlighted at the Annecy Festival and Market next week. We caught up with one of the producers and directors of the project, Disney veteran Kevin Geiger to find out more about this interesting project funded by the Taiwan Ministry of Culture, which will be ready by the end of this year:
Animag: Can you tell us a little bit about the beginnings of the Bliss anthology and how the project came together?
Kevin: Like most science fiction, Bliss began with a question that has real-world relevance: “Will our future be one of horror or hope? Can the future even be imagined at this time?” Here in Taiwan, we sit in the crosshairs of the cultural, technological, sociopolitical, and philosophical ramifications. It’s an urgent consideration for us, not a pedantic proposition.
Accordingly, Bliss: Beyond the Edge of Time was conceived as a six-part Taiwanese animated science fiction anthology that ponders: “In a future where memories can be erased, identities rewritten, and fate engineered, what remains truly ours?” It is a poignant, unflinching look into the future — where the cold precision of technology collides with the fragile essence of humanity. Love, Death + Robots meets the I Ching…
This sci-fi anthology is uniquely inspired by the ancient cosmology of the I Ching (Book of Changes), an ancient Chinese system of 64 hexagrams: binary codes of solid and broken lines that map the shifting forces of the universe. The I Ching is a philosophical engine: interpreting reality through the dynamic balance of Yin (dark) and Yang (light), entropy and order, chaos and consciousness. In the BLISS animation anthology, the I Ching functions as a primal source code — an ancient algorithm embedded in the fabric of our science fiction story worlds.
Bliss is not merely a vision of what’s to come tomorrow, but a mirror reflecting who we are today: science fiction as spiritual metaphor. To reach Bliss is to journey through the Book of Changes — and to emerge “Beyond the Edge of Time.”
Q: When did you start working on this ambitious anthology?
We began preliminary discussions and development of BLISS in mid-2024, but production kicked off in late 2024 after our funding was granted by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture. We have a clear plan, government support, and an active production path — albeit one driven by the necessity to proceed quickly and efficiently with lean resources.
Q: Which companies are collaborating to produce the animation?
Six Taiwanese animation studios — Hytree, Movect, One Punch, Studio2, tellretell, and Tracking Troops — are collaborating to produce the Bliss anthology’s short film episodes, with central coordination through tellretell (www.tellretell.com) in Taipei with Wen Feng and Jo-Jo Hwang producing. BLISS is executive produced by myself (www.kevingeiger.com) and our colleague Patrick Huang of Flash Forward Entertainment (www.ffe.com.tw). Each animation studio owns its own segment and creative vision, but participates in shared anthology brand identity, packaging and promotion.
Q: Why was the project conceived as an anthology? How many parts? Is each section directed by a different director?
The anthology format for BLISS made sense creatively and logistically: with limited time and funding, we couldn’t afford one giant production pipeline. But we could empower six studios — each with their own tools, teams, and styles — to deliver six distinct short films, all thematically linked. Each film has its own award-winning director, its own style, and its own existential sci-fi question — all anchored by the I-Ching (Book of Changes) as a common spine…
- The Last Faith takes place aboard a dying world’s final train, blending Taiwanese religious rituals with sci-fi suspense in a post-apocalyptic clash between faith and AI consciousness.(Directed by Yu-Shu Liu, produced by Hytree Studio) https://treemuta.wixsite.com/hytree
- Paradise LO5T. With sixteen days until The End, two young hearts chase the bloom of love across a desert of memories. Existential dread unfolds into a poetic journey for inner peace in the face of despair. (Directed by Jade Lien, produced by Tracking Troops LTD) https://www.facebook.com/TrackingTroops
- Re-soul draws us into a world where futuristic technology meets ancient Taoist rituals, and a ghost bride’s sorrowful journey through the digital underworld tests the limits of love and obsession. (Directed by Wei Chih Liao, produced by Movect Studio) www.facebook.com/movectstudio
- Ship of Theseus explores the prospect of the “Singularity” through a debate between an amnesiac father and his vegetative daughter. When every piece of the self is replaced, what remains?(Directed by Liwei Chiu, produced by Studio2 Animation Lab) studio2.com.tw/about-us
- The Poacher immerses us in a storm-lit forest where a leopard finds its voice, in a satirical fable that demonstrates “wildlife protection” may simply be another form of human arrogance. (Directed by Jo-Jo Huang, produced by One Punch Studio) ohisonepunch-tw.com
- Whispers in the Void is a deep-space love story between a young woman and her android companion, whose evolving relationship speaks to Gen Z’s redefinition of love, identity, and connection in the age of AI. (Directed by Kevin Geiger, produced by tellretell) realtimedigitalstoryworlds.wordpress.com/adults
Q: Can you tell us about the animation tools or AI technologies that are used to create this movie?
Each studio is applying its own personnel, pipeline and toolkit. Some teams are using traditional 2D or hybrid workflows, while others are leaning into 3D CGI. Although there’s been some marginal application of AI for script analysis and market research, the BLISS anthology isn’t a “prompted” project — it’s a “handcrafted” digital series, so to speak. We strive to balance technical innovation with artistic integrity on every episode. Here’s a work-in-progress, behind-the-scenes peek at the making of Bliss:
Q: How was the funding made possible and what is the ballpark cost of the project?
The anthology is 70% funded through the Taiwan Ministry of Culture’s Blackwave National Culture and Arts Foundation Grant, and we greatly appreciate their support. The remaining 30% of our financing is producers’ equity — which we’re opening to private investment, in-kind partnerships, and so forth.
Our total budget is roughly $1.8 million for the entire anthology — six films, six directors, six pipelines. That’s a crazy low number by international standards, which means every team has to work very hard (and very smart) to make the result look more expensive onscreen than it actually was.
Q: When is the delivery date for Bliss?
We’re targeting Q4 2025 for delivery of the animated streaming series and corresponding feature film.
Q: What makes this ambitious project stand out? What do you love about it?
I love that we’re using ancient philosophy to frame modern fears through the lens of speculative sci-fi storytelling. I love that Bliss is deeply personal for each director, but also universally relevant. I love that no two episodes look or feel the same. And I love that we are creating original animated content at a time when the entertainment industry is retreating from that historical legacy.
Q: What would you say are the biggest challenges ahead?
Alignment has been even more challenging than delivery. What makes BLISS stand out is also what makes it hard: it’s not one voice, it’s six. That means six visions, six opportunities, and six risks. Six studios with strong creative voices means many opinions — which is not a bad thing at all, but constitutes a continual current of conversation.
Among our teams, we’re navigating very different expectations on IP exposure, creative control, production timelines and business outcomes. Add in a compressed schedule and budget, and there’s never a dull moment. The making of Bliss would be a great reality TV show, if nothing else.
But when we put the anthology across the line, I believe that it will be one of the boldest, most innovative animated sci-fi projects to come out of Asia in recent years. My hope is that Bliss sets a benchmark for original, international-quality animated storytelling from Taiwan.
Annecy attendees are welcome to attend our pitch of in the Annecy 2025 Partner Pitch Taiwan Spotlight at 4:45pm on June 10th in the 3F VERDI Room, Impérial Palace. https://lu.ma/qwfzp1in
Postscript: You can watch part of Kevin’s presentation at Annecy below:
